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AirBnB Wedding in Texas

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This real wedding couple knew they wanted an intimate private residence wedding, but didn't have a space they could use. So they rented one through AirBnB! Marika and Micah exchanged their vows in front of their closest loved ones with tons of laughs and DIY decor.
AirBnB Wedding in Texas

Marika + Micah

Carrollton, Texas
- 11/13/2018
Total wedding budget $9,000

Budget Breakdown

Below is an estimated wedding budget breakdown provided by the couple.

  • Venue
    45%
    $4042
  • Table, Chair & Linen Rental
    2%
    $200
  • Attire
    23%
    $2085
  • Photography
    11%
    $1000
  • Cake/Dessert
    3%
    $270
  • Food
    2%
    $219
  • Decor
    8%
    $675
  • Flowers
    3%
    $225
  • Hair & Makeup
    2%
    $175
  • Miscellaneous
    3%
    $250
  • Total wedding budget
    $9000

How did you meet?

We met as young 21 and 22-year-olds working our way waiting tables and paying our way through college at The University of North Texas. We had both just gotten out of a relationship and both confided in our manager where we worked. After hearing both of our stories and knowing both of us well, she played matchmaker and helped set us up!

What is your proposal story?

Fast forward nearly 6 years after we met, we went to Naples, Florida for a week-long summer vacation in August 2016. We woke up on a Monday morning for our first full day in Florida. Micah woke me up at 5 AM with so much excitement and said he wanted us to hurry and catch the sunrise on the beach. I rolled out of bed, slightly annoyed that I wasn’t able to sleep in after traveling the entire day before. During our drive to the beach, I barely spoke, but Micah, who is always a morning person, promised that he would make me smile that day. We made it to the beach and walked along the shore for about 20 minutes before Micah walked slightly ahead and said he had found something. He opened his hand where he had a ring in his palm. He proceeded to get down on one knee and the rest is history!

AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas

Tell us about your wedding vision.

We both agreed early on that we did not want a big wedding, but we wanted our wedding day to be more about our families and how they all are such an important part of our relationship and makes us who we are. We started looking at venues, but never really found anything that we loved that could host our very intimate wedding. At one point, we even considered doing a destination wedding instead and just renting a big house for everyone to stay there. Logistically, it didn’t work out for a destination wedding, but we held on to that same concept and started looking for a rental property big enough to host both of our families somewhere close to where we live in Dallas, TX.

We knew we had found the right place when we came across The Magnolia Acres Estate in Copper Canyon, TX. It’s a beautifully romantic and rustic estate on 5 acres of Texas Country. The 8,200 square-foot private estate gave us an ample amount of space for our 40 guests.  We instantly envisioned ourselves getting married in the lush backyard garden underneath a rustic wooden archway. It was classic, romantic, intimate and everything we pictured our wedding day to be.

AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas

Tell us about your attire choices.

I wanted my dress to be timeless. I didn’t want to look back on my wedding photos at any time and think the style was outdated. So, I chose an ivory lace, sweetheart neckline mermaid style dress. I’ve always loved the elegance of pearl details so I knew that I wanted to incorporate pearls into my accessories. I fell in love with a pair of strappy Badgley Mischka heels with pearl detailing and found matching pearl drop earrings to go with a pearl & rhinestone hair comb.

Micah didn’t want to be limited to the choices of suit styles and brands that most places offer if you rent a suit. Instead, we shopped around and got an amazing deal on a suit from Nordstrom that fit him perfectly.

What was most important to you two while planning? Was there anything you chose to splurge on or skip?

The most important aspect of our wedding was finding a space comfortable enough to host both of our families without feeling like anything was rushed or entirely planned out as most venues require. We splurged on renting out the estate for the entire weekend so that we could do our rehearsal, handle all of the decorating ourselves, and also house a few of the out of town guests. Since we only had our family at the ceremony and reception, we skipped on some of the traditional wedding details such as a wedding party and the tossing of the bouquet & garter.

AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas

What were your favorite parts of the day?

Our favorite memory is making our wedding truly our own. We did all of the planning between the two of us and the decorating with only the help of our immediate family. While it’s easy to get caught up in the expectations of how grandiose weddings can be, we opted to do things our own way and instead put the focus on bringing our families together to celebrate our love. Instead of stressing about finances, guests lists or minor details, we kept most things simple.  In the end, we were able to enjoy every part of our wedding.

Tell us about your wedding flowers.

Another detail we decided to be unconventional on were our flowers. After seeing beautiful arrangements at Market Street, we ordered the bridal bouquet, boutonniere, and corsages for our moms ahead of time. Then on the morning of the wedding, we just picked up several “ready to go” bundles from the floral department and made our own arrangements with our own vases.

Tell us about your wedding cake.

After deciding on our venue, we searched for local bakeries nearby so that we could have someone pick up the cake on the wedding day instead of having to pay to have it delivered. We found a locally owned bakery less than 5 miles from the estate. The owner of the bakery helped us with our tasting and we decided to go with a two-tier cake. We had one tier of white almond cake and the other red velvet. Both tiers had cream cheese icing. We received so many compliments about how amazing the cake tasted and we can’t wait to have it again on our anniversary.

What did you do for favors?

We opted to skip favors since the wedding was just our family.

AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas
AirBnB Wedding in Texas

Please describe any handmade, personal, or DIY details.

Micah’s dad has been a pastor and an ordained minister for many years, so we had him preside over our ceremony. Having someone who knows both the bride and groom really well helped make our ceremony unique to our relationship. He shared stories and inside jokes throughout our relationship and truly made our ceremony special in sharing our love story.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?

We set up photos of our relatives who passed away and lit a candle by each photo. We had the set up near the dining tables for the reception. It felt like they shared our wedding with us.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

Make your wedding your own! Only do things that feel right to you and don’t just do things that have been traditional with weddings.

AirBnB Wedding in Texas